Pyramid of Light
by MillenniumPrincess
Summary: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, but I've decided to retell the movie with the addition of some of my own characters and alter the story a little bit.
1. Here we go again

Here we go again

There was a television report announcing the celebration of the third anniversary of the crowning of the Duel Monsters champion. "In the three short years since he started playing Duel Monsters, Yugi Muto has risen to international stardom by becoming the worldwide Duel Monsters card playing champion. But what makes this young man such a talented duelist? Is it his mastrical strategies or does the secret lie in the powerful God cards he's assembled in his deck? Whatever the reason, Yugi has proven his dueling prowess time and again. He has reigned victorious in the most prestigious tournaments including the Duelist Kingdom competition and most recently, the Battle City finals where once again, Yugi defeated former champ Seto Kaiba to win it all."

"Give me a break," scoffed one of the viewers. "I bet I could duel circles around this little high school pipsqueak."

"Yugi says his success is due to his grandfather's coaching and to his belief in the Heart of the Cards," continued the reporter.

Another viewer watched and listened in disbelief. "If he'd play me for those God cards, I'd take that chump down in a flash."

"But others say it is the Egyptian God cards that make Yugi virtually unbeatable. And so the gauntlet is thrown. Can anyone defeat Yugi and his unstoppable God cards?"

It sounded like a challenge to those who wanted a shot at a duel against Yugi. But no one was more serious, rather obsessive about the matter than Yugi's fierce rival Seto Kaiba, the wealthy president of the greatest gaming corporation in the town of Domino. Ever since his first defeat, Kaiba has been strategizing a plan to defeat Yugi and reclaim the championship crown.

One of Kaiba's simulations was being played in the company. It was his Blue-Eyes White Dragon against the three Egyptian God cards. The score stood with Kaiba having 1300 life points and his rival having 2100. But it wasn't really Yugi he was facing, but the ancient pharaoh whose spirit resided within the sacred Millennium Puzzle. "Even you must admit that your Blue-Eyes White Dragon is powerless against my Egyptian God cards."

"Make all the smug pronouncements you'd like, but know this: there's got to be a way to beat your God cards and I won't stop until I find it," Kaiba said, drawing a card from his deck. "Now I activate the magic card Polymerization. This allows me to fuse my Blue-Eyes White Dragons together to form Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. And that's just for starters. Next, I play a magic card that doubles my Dragon's attack points: Megamorph." Now the Ultimate Dragon had 9000 attack points and was the strongest monster in play.

"There's more to power than just attack points," Yami reminded him.

"Hah. And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means my Egyptian God cards possess powers far beyond mere monsters."

"They what?"

"By sacrificing two of them, I can bestow upon the third infinite strength." And the pharaoh sacrificed the Winged Dragon of Ra and Slifer the Sky Dragon. Now Obelisk the Tormentor was the strongest monster in play.

Kaiba wouldn't let him win. "No, I can beat your God cards! I won't lose to you again!" And the Ultimate Dragon's Neutron Blast collided with Obelisk's Fist of Fury. Their attacks seemed equal for a short moment, but Obelisk was overpowering the Ultimate Dragon. "No, my Dragon!" Kaiba cried as his most powerful monster was destroyed and his life points went down to zero. "NO-O-O!" he screamed, but his voice quickly silenced as the simulation malfunctioned and came to an end. There was an overload of power and Kaiba's tech experts tried to get everything back under control.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba, but I was certain that our calculations were correct this time, sir."

One tech expert rose from his seat and pleaded, "If you'll just give us one more chance, sir!"

But Kaiba wouldn't allow it. "So you can fail again? Sorry."

"Please, sir, we're close to postulating a winning stratagem."

Kaiba scoffed. "Well, if I were you, I'd start postulating myself a new job! You've had more than enough time to find a way to beat Yugi's Egyptian God cards, but as usual, I'll have to do it myself! Now get out," he ordered and left the deck.

"Oh, man," his little brother sighed, sensing the anger in his tone.

 _There's got to be some way to beat Yugi's Egyptian God cards,_ Kaiba wondered as he was walking down the hall. _And I think I know where to start looking._ Kaiba decided that the only way to get information on how to beat the most powerful and feared creatures in all of Duel Monsters was to consult with the creator of the card game, Maximillion Pegasus.


	2. Fate Intervenes Once Again

Fate Intervenes Once Again

Late at night, Pegasus was resting peacefully until he started having a strange dream. He heard a voice speaking in some sort of ancient Egyptian dialect citing a chant. In the dream, Pegasus was standing in the middle of a desert under a starry sky. In the sky, he saw Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra. Completely aware of their divine powers, Pegasus feared these powerful beasts. But fear had not taken over him this time. He didn't know what it was, but he had a feeling that the Egyptian God monsters were the ones expressing fear. The Egyptian chant was being recited again and the divine beasts let out what sounded like a cry for help. Then a strange blue pyramid materialized around the Egyptian Gods, trapping them.

Sensing something dangerous about the pyramid, Pegasus woke up. "What a horrible nightmare," he said, trying to relax. He got out of bed and looked outside the window. The sky was clear with a nearly full moon and the water was flowing calmly. There was no breeze, so the trees hardly swayed. "Looks peaceful enough, yet I sense chaos," Pegasus said worriedly. "I may have lost my Millennium Eye some time ago, but I can still sense that the Great Goddess is warning me that something terrible is about to unfold."

The next day while his grandson was at school, Solomon Muto was reading the daily newspaper. What caught his attention was the announcement of an Egyptian exhibit opening at the Domino museum. It had been so long since he last saw a display of ancient Egyptian artifacts, so he decided to go to the museum and check out the exhibit.

At the same time, Kaiba was making preparations to head out to see Pegasus. Kaiba knew that since it was almost summertime, Pegasus would be vacationing in his private home on his personal island. Rather than fly his helicopter, Kaiba decided to make this a quick trip by riding in his custom-made Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet.

It took more than an hour for Kaiba to get to the island. He landed his jet next to Pegasus' house and saw the creator of Duel Monsters happily relaxing near the water. Pegasus noticed Kaiba and was surprised to see him after all these years. "Can it be? My dear friend Kaiba boy!"

Kaiba was not thrilled in the same way. He was always on a mission for business and not for sheer pleasure, so he didn't take kindly to the welcome. "Spare me the pleasantries, Pegasus. You and I have never been friends, so let's not start pretending that we are."

Pegasus could sense that Kaiba had not changed one little bit. That made it more fun to torment him with humor and mockery. "Oh, my. Sounds like someone needs a hug."

"No, thanks," said Kaiba. "But since you mention it, there is something that I need." He decided to get to the point. "Listen, I've come to your little fantasy island in search of a card powerful enough to beat Yugi's three Egyptian God cards."

Pegasus takes a sip of wine from his glass and inquires, "And you believe I might have this all powerful God smiting card, because?"

Kaiba grinned and said one little detail. "Because you created the game, Pegasus."

"Once upon a time, Kaiba boy, but I'm retired now," Pegasus says, facing the lake. "The only things I create these days are places like this for the fishies to enjoy."

But Kaiba wouldn't accept his remark. "I know you, Pegasus. You created the God cards and would have never let them out of your sweaty little hands." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Unless you also created a way to beat them, just in case."

Pegasus had to remember that nothing ever gets past Kaiba. So he decided to come clean. "Oh, very well, I confess. I may have one card that would help, but you can't have it."

"What?" Kaiba should have known that this wouldn't be easy.

Pegasus chuckled. "I'm sorry, Kaiba, but I don't think you deserve it. True, I may not see as well as I once did," he says, placing his hand under the hair covering the left side of his face. Kaiba groaned, remembering that his hair concealed the Millennium Eye. Pegasus removes his hand and continues, "but to be honest, it doesn't take a magic eye to see just how thoroughly Yugi has trounced your sorry behind again and again. Quite frankly, it's embarrassing."

Kaiba knew that the only way for him to get what he wanted from Pegasus was to persuade him to give it up. And the best way for Kaiba to be persuasive was to make an offer that couldn't be refused. "Well, since I'm such a disappointment, you should have no trouble defeating me in a duel." He takes his deck and offers his three White Dragons. "If you'll put up the card I need to beat Yugi, I'll wager these."

Pegasus was surprised to see Kaiba make such a dangerous proposal. For anyone to do something like that only proved that it was an act of desperation and Pegasus could clearly see that Kaiba was desperate. "Well, I guess I could dust off my deck. Kaiba, my dear and devious friend, let the games begin!"

Back in Domino city, school hours had finally come to an end and many of the students were gathering at the front gate like some sort of special event was going on. On the other side of the gate was a bunch of duelists from all over town. No surprise they all came looking for Yugi. When he made it through the other students and got in front of the duelists, they all crowded him, challenging him to a duel.

Joey turned around and told Tea and Emily to carefully lead Yugi to safety through the other side of the school while he and Tristan would take care of the crowd. The girls agreed and took their friend with them. On the count of three, Joey and Tristan ran through the crowd. Some of the duelists wanted to stop them, but when they realized that Yugi wasn't with them, they decided that Joey and Tristan weren't worth their while. Joey didn't like that remark; especially when he was called a nobody. He knew that everyone in the crowd wanted to face Yugi, but Joey told them that first they needed to prove their right to duel Yugi by first dueling a top contender. Of course, he was referring to himself. Joey even called himself the godfather of games.

Joey beat some of the duelists and wasn't even feeling tired. Yugi came back to see if the coast was clear, but when the mob of duelists saw him, he and the girls made a run for it. The duelists ran after them, unaware that they had ran over Joey and Tristan. Tea and Emily tried to run through the park, but there were more duelists. Sure enough, Yugi and the girls needed to find a place to hide; someplace no one in the mob would ever think to look for them. Tea and Emily saw the Domino museum and agreed that it was the best place to hide.


	3. Old Time's Sake

Old Time's Sake

Pegasus led Kaiba to a dueling arena that was kept in his cellar. "So what do you think, Kaiba boy? Is this the latest in duel arena technology or what?"

"This place is an outdated joke," Kaiba smartly replied as he and Pegasus set their cases on the table. "But then, so are you, so I suppose it fits."

"Come now, Kaiba, let's not get nasty," said Pegasus. "Not just yet, anyhow."

"Look, enough small talk," said Kaiba.

"Let's duel," both duelists cried.

Pegasus makes the first move and draws his card. To his delight, it was his favorite. "Oh, dear, I'm afraid you're about to enter into a world of pain, Kaiba boy. A world of chaos; a world of absolute mayhem." Kaiba had a feeling he knew what he was talking about. "That's right, a world of Toons," Pegasus told him as he paid a thousand life points and played Toon World.

Kaiba laughed. "Don't tell me you're actually still using that idiotic Toon World card. Well, then this is going to be easier than I thought." Although Kaiba had only seen Toon World in action once, he had studied its effects carefully and now knew how he would have a chance against it. Pegasus ended his turn by summoning Toon Gemini Elf in attack mode and playing a card face down. Kaiba made his turn by summoning X Head Cannon in attack mode and playing two cards face down.

"Oh, I'm so scared, Kaiba. Two cards face down? Oh, mercy me! What will I do?" Pegasus asked mockingly. "Oh, wait a minute, I know, play this: Card of Sanctity!" White, yellow, and blue lights were shining above the arena. "Isn't it pretty? And it allows us each to draw until we both have six cards in our hand." And both duelists drew three cards from their decks. "Now I activate the magic card Cost Down, which means-"

"Do you ever shut up?" Kaiba interrupted. "I know what it means. Now you can summon your strongest monsters to the field more easily. Please, what do you take me for? Some kind of a rookie?"

The monster Pegasus chose to summon was a level six monster called Toon Dark Magician Girl, a more cute and childlike version of the original. But before attacking with her, Pegasus had his Toon Gemini Elf attack Kaiba directly, dealing 1900 points of damage. "Cartoons are so violent these days. But we're not through yet. My elves have another ability. When they deal damage to a player, that player loses a card from his hand," Pegasus explained as Kaiba was forced to discard Monster Reborn from his hand. "Aren't my Toons simply magnificent, Kaiba boy?" Pegasus asked. Kaiba was still disgusted by how passionate Pegasus was about his Toons. "Oh, don't look so sour, think of it this way. At least it will be them stopping your quest to the top and not Yugi boy for the umpteenth time. Now then, let's get on with it, shall we?"

Toon Dark Magician Girl was finally getting her chance to attack, but Kaiba was prepared. "I guess it's true that when you get old, the mind is the first thing to go. Because you forgot all about my face down cards and now it's going to cost you." The first card he revealed was Attack Guidance Armor. "This trap's like a magnet that redirects your own attack right back at you."

"No, you wouldn't," said Pegasus.

"Oh, yes, I would, and I will!" Kaiba remembered that Toon monsters couldn't be destroyed in battle by ordinary monsters. They could only be destroyed by their own kind. The Guidance Armor attached to the Toon Gemini Elf and Toon Dark Magician Girl attacked the comical twins, dealing 100 points of damage to Pegasus.

"But they were just innocent Toons," the creator of games protested. He played his own Monster Reborn card to revive them from the graveyard. After that, he revealed his hidden trap card Ultimate Offering. Now Pegasus could summon another additional monster for the price of 500 life points. So he paid his fee and sacrificed his Toon Gemini Elf to summon Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon. "Looks rather vicious, doesn't he? But don't you worry yourself, Kaiba boy, he's actually quite docile. Well, compared to the next Toon, that is." And he played Toon Summoned Skull for the price of another 500 life points. "You know what they say, Kaiba boy: you have to spend life points to take life points. Of course, you know all about that. Yugi's been taking your life points for, what? Going on three years now? Oh, I'm sorry to keep bringing that up."

Kaiba was tired of hearing Pegasus mention that detail. He was also finding his jokes more annoying than funny. He was ready to end the duel. "I activate the magic card Dark Core. Now by discarding one card from my hand, I can remove any monster from the game."

Pegasus faced his Toons sadly. "I'm sorry, Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, but I guess this is goodbye." The Dragon let out what sounded like a screeching gasp as she heard Pegasus say that.

But Kaiba had another plan. "You won't be getting off that easily. I'm discarding Y Dragon Head so I can remove X Head Cannon from the game."

"What? But X Head Cannon is your own monster. What are you scheming?"

"Next, I activate the magic card Soul Release. It removes one more card from the game and I'm using it on my Y Dragon Head."

"Why are you removing your own monsters?" Pegasus asked. His confusion grew even more as Kaiba summoned Z Metal Tank to the field. "That makes no sense. Unless…"

"Unless I still have one more card to play, Pegasus," Kaiba finished. His second hidden card was Return From the Different Dimension; a trap card that summoned all monsters that had been removed from play for the price of half of the cardholder's life points. Kaiba paid 1050 life points and brought his two machines back so they could merge together into XYZ Dragon Cannon.

"Now I have all the firepower I need to blast any card I want out of the duel. If you still think you're going to win, then it's time to change your tune," said Kaiba. The tank's Cannon Firestorm destroyed Toon World and all of the monsters with it, reducing Pegasus' life points to zero. "Now let's see what you've got to beat the Egyptian God cards." Kaiba approached the table and looked at the cards in Pegasus' case. "Looks like you had two cards up your sleeve," he said, taking them and placing them in his coat pocket.

Pegasus was confused. "What do you mean 'two' cards? Kaiba, there was only one."

"Yeah, right," Kaiba scoffed. "Nice try, you snake."


	4. An Ancient Legend

An Ancient Legend

Tea and Emily carefully brought Yugi to the Domino museum. They hoped it would be the last place where those demented duelists would think to look for them. While inside, they noticed that a new Egyptian artifact was on display. The artifact was a pyramid that looked like it was made out of crystal. It was called the Pyramid of Light.

"Look, girls," Yugi was saying. "That blue pyramid looks just like my Millennium Puzzle."

"Yeah, it does," said Emily. "Let's go check it out."

The pyramid wasn't the only thing on display. There was also a sarcophagus containing a mummy. The contents said that it was the body of the Egyptian Lord of the dead: Anubis. Seeing the carcass made Tea feel sick to her stomach. She warned her friends that if they didn't leave, she would vomit. Before following her friends to the next gallery, Emily felt a strange dark presence coming from the mummy. It was faint, so she decided not to worry about it.

When they came to the next room, they saw Yugi's grandfather. "What are you doing here?" Yugi asked.

Solomon took notice of his grandson and said, "Well, it looks like great minds think alike."

"So you came to see the Pyramid of Light too," Emily wondered.

"In all my years of Egyptology, I've never come across this relic before," said Solomon. "It says here that it belonged to an ancient sorcerer who tried to bring about the end of the world."

"Well, I guess it's safe to say his plan didn't work, right?" Yugi asked.

"Legend says a brave pharaoh destroyed him with the mystical Dagger of Fate," explained his grandfather. He led the three friends back to the mummy and showed them the blade. Tea was still feeling sick just by looking at the mummy. Emily saw the Dagger of Fate and wanted to learn more about Anubis and his plans of destruction. She also had a feeling that there was power within the Pyramid of Light. Yugi saw hieroglyphics on the sarcophagus and wondered what they depicted. Solomon translated that the contents read a prophecy saying: _"The eye that sees what's yet to come, its vision shall be fulfilled. Unless blinded by events predetermined, thus light and shadows both be killed."_

When Solomon finished reading the contents, a dark presence filled the room and the entire area was filled with a blinding white light, causing everyone to lose consciousness.

Unconscious, Yugi began having a strange vision. The first thing he saw was a sort of struggle between the Pyramid of Light and the Millennium Puzzle. After that, he saw himself facing Kaiba in a dreadful Shadow Game and was losing. Kaiba was about to reign victorious until the jackal-headed deity grabbed him by the head and roared, "From the light comes the dark!"

Emily was having a different vision. This one was about the ancient past. She saw her mother battling Anubis in some sort of duel with magic and monsters. She was using the magic of her Millennium Star and Anubis was using the magic of the Pyramid of Light. Emily didn't get to see how the fight ended because Tea was trying to bring her back to her senses.

Yugi and Emily regained consciousness, but were both still a little out of it. Tea figured that much out when she heard them ask their ridiculous requests about her singing lullabies and telling their favorite stories. "We've got bigger problems," Tea told her friends. She alerted them that the mummy had been stolen along with the Pyramid of Light. Emily could still sense the evil presence in the room and had a feeling that this wasn't an ordinary act of thievery.

Yugi remembered his vision. "Tea, Emily, stay here with Grandpa. I have a feeling Kaiba's in danger. I have to warn him."

"Yugi, wait," Emily called.

"Just keep an eye on Grandpa," he told her. "I'll call you."

Solomon started coming back to his senses. "What hit me?"

"Probably whatever broke into the museum," Tea said as she was helping him.

"No, this is terrible," said Solomon.

Emily agreed. "They took the mummy and the Pyramid of Light."

"This is one crime those crooks are going to regret." To explain what he means, Solomon tells the girls, "According to the legend, Anubis vowed that he would one day return from the dead."

Already Emily was having a bad feeling about all this. It made her wonder if her assumptions were true. "You don't think-?"

"Emily, I don't know what to think. Let's just hope that legend is just a legend."

Emily could sense that even her neighbor was worried. She also knew that he wasn't really the right person to be asking questions about all this. She wondered if perhaps her mother might have answers, so she withdrew herself from the world and decided to speak to the woman whose spirit resided in the Millennium Star, Queen Mystery.

Within the Star, the queen felt the ominous force and knew that ancient evil was at large. "I share your fears and concerns, my child. Anubis will return."

"Mother," Emily was asking, "is there anything you can tell me about Anubis and the Pyramid of Light?"

The queen decided to go further into the story Yugi's grandfather was telling before they were attacked. Anubis was a sorcerer talented with dark magic. Filled with evil and darkness, Anubis would let nothing stand in his way from achieving domination. But as the evil within him grew stronger, his ideal of domination turned into an ideal of destruction. But he knew the story of the battle between the Great Goddess and the Dark Lord and decided that he wanted to be superior even to the magicians who held the power of the Gods. Anubis sold his heart and soul to the netherworld and became the Lord of the dead. So called because he would send forth his beasts of destruction to destroy any life on Earth and the dead would become his servants and minions and he would rule all.

To help him along the way, the Gods granted Anubis a powerful object called the Pyramid of Light. The queen explains that the Pyramid of Light used to be sacred before Anubis corrupted its magic and used its power for evil. Within the Pyramid was a clash between the forces of light and darkness, shifting the balance between them.

The only thing standing in Anubis' way and preventing his plans from coming to pass were the magicians who held the powers of the Gods. He decided to go after Mystery first and take her as his sacrifice; destroying the Millennium Star and forcing her to pledge fealty to him. Alone, the light of the Millennium Star did not stand a chance against the destructive power of the Pyramid of Light. The pharaoh came to Mystery's rescue and fought against Anubis in a Shadow Game. Yami was Millennia's warrior, but even he remembered that the powers of the Great Goddess alone were no match for Anubis' destructive power. But he was granted a weapon called the Dagger of Fate and used it to pierce Anubis' chest. With his dying breath, the evil entity vowed to return and complete his task.

Yami and Mystery both had a feeling that Anubis was speaking the truth. They also knew that something had to be done about the Pyramid of Light. The queen thought she could use her Millennium Star to purify the evil within, but it was still filled with Anubis' hatred towards his enemies. The pharaoh decided that the best thing to do would be to seal Anubis and the Pyramid of Light together in a tomb far away. Anubis would rule the netherworld until his return.

"Your father saved my life that day," said Mystery. "He also saved my friend before she could even get involved in this."

"You used the Millennium Star," Emily said, recalling her vision. "But you stopped. Was it too much for you?"

"I was desperate and wanted to save myself and stop Anubis," she answered. "I thought I could if I used the Millennium Star. But if I kept going and used every ounce of my strength, he would have won and got what he wanted from me." She faces her daughter and continues, "The Millennium Star should only be used as a last resort. There is a chance you will be granted victory, but it will also destroy you along with it. No matter what may happen, Emily, you must not use the Millennium Star."

"But Anubis is back," she protested. "He reawakened and stole the Pyramid of Light."

"I am aware, Emily, but I am begging you as your mother to heed my words. I already lost you once before in Egypt. I can't bear to think about losing you again."

Emily listened to her mother's words and decided that it would be best to do as she said. But she couldn't forget about Yugi. She wondered if meeting up with Kaiba was a scheme set up by Anubis to get them to duel. Either way, her friends were in danger and needed help. "I don't know more about Anubis than you do, so I won't use the Millennium Star," she promised. "But Yugi and Kaiba are in trouble."

Mystery nods in agreement. "You must go with caution, my love."

"I will, Mother," Emily said and returned to the real world. She left the museum with Tea and Solomon and went to find Yugi.


	5. Playtime is Over

Playtime is Over

Mokuba found Yugi and told him that his presence was requested at his brother's duel dome. Mokuba noticed a strange behavior in his brother's attitude and was worried he would lose it. Yugi understood and went with Mokuba to the duel dome after picking up his duel disk.

"My brother's waiting for you on the top floor," Mokuba told Yugi.

"I got it. Thanks," Yugi said and walked inside. He entered the elevator and was heading to the skytop dueling platform. He also strapped his duel disk on his left wrist and took out his dueling deck from the pocket in his belt. "This is what he wants," Yugi said, looking at the three Egyptian God cards. He entered his mind and began having a discussion with the pharaoh before their match. "But it's too much of a coincidence that Kaiba would send for us right after the vision we had at the museum. There must be something more going on here and I bet it has something to do with that Anubis guy. It seems like you had some sort of battle with him five thousand years ago."

"Perhaps," replied Yami, "but sadly, memories of my days as pharaoh are clouded; nor is it clear to me what role the Egyptian God cards have to play in all of this."

"I sure wish we knew more about what happened back in your past," said Yugi.

"All that matters is that we face the future together."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way. Are you ready, Partner?"

"Ready," Yami answered, and the Millennium Puzzle glowed and he took over. He stepped out of the elevator and saw Kaiba waiting for him at the arena.

"Welcome," Kaiba greeted. "Glad you came to duel, Yugi, because this time, things are going to be different." Before the match, Kaiba placed his two new cards in his deck and a simulation was played out calculating the strength of both players throughout the duel. The simulation ended with Kaiba still having half of his life points and Yami losing everything. Mokuba went to the dueling platform as well and began managing all the controls. Joey and Tristan followed him and decided to watch the duel.

"I hope you brought your Egyptian God cards," said Kaiba. "Otherwise, this duel isn't going to be any fun at all."

"Kaiba, I'm sensing the presence of something far more dangerous than you can possibly imagine," Yami warned him.

As usual, Kaiba wouldn't listen. "Spare me the fairy tales."

"We could all be in great danger!"

"I've heard enough! If you think you sense something dangerous, you're absolutely right. Because it's me and my deck and in this Duel Monsters match, you're about to lose big time." Kaiba turns to his little brother and tells him to seal all of the exits and lock all the doors. Reluctantly, Mokuba carries out his brother's orders, trapping everyone. "Now what do you say we get down to business already?"

Yugi was against the idea as much as Yami was and said, "Something tells me that this duel is not a good idea."

Yami agrees and tries again. "Kaiba, why don't you stop thinking about yourself for once and listen to what I'm telling you?"

"You're in no position to be making demands, so shut up and duel," Kaiba ordered and began activating his duel disk. Yami did the same thing and placed his deck in the slot. "And may the best duelist win." It was clear to Joey and Tristan that Kaiba wasn't giving their friend the option to refuse. Mokuba told his brother that all exits were secure and all dueling systems were online. "You've been taking credit for being the top duelist for way too long and to tell you the truth, I'm sick of it. By the time this duel's over, you'll be exposed to the world as a total fraud!" Kaiba laughed.

"Let's duel!" Both duelists cried.

Kaiba makes the first move and summons Familiar Knight in defense mode. Yami summons Queen's Knight and destroys Familiar Knight, activating its special ability and letting Kaiba summon a new monster to take its place. It was Rare Metal Dragon, a monster with 2400 attack points. "You're being so helpful, because why?" Kaiba asked.

"Because by doing so, I also get to summon a new monster." The card Yami chose was King's Knight and now that he was on the field with Queen's Knight, he could summon Jack's Knight to join them. Yami ended his turn by playing one card face down.

Kaiba drew his card and saw that it was one of the prizes he got from Pegasus. "Looks like your luck's finally run out. I'll keep this face down on the field until the time is right. Right for me, that is. And then nothing in your deck will make a difference. Your move, Yugi."

Yami places his fingertips on his deck, but before he draws his card, he feels a strange presence. It fades and he draws his card, Slifer the Sky Dragon. He sacrificed his three Knights to bring his divine Dragon into play. Slifer had 3000 attack points and dealt 600 points of damage to Kaiba as it attacked Rare Metal Dragon. "Had enough?"

Kaiba didn't have enough. It was going according to his plans. "Not only am I not afraid of your Egyptian God cards, but I'm going to force you to play all three of them at once. Thanks to my Obligatory Summon magic card, you have to bring out every monster in your deck that falls into the same category as the one that's on the field already."

So Yami summoned Obelisk the Tormentor and the Winged Dragon of Ra to join Slifer the Sky Dragon. "You've allowed me to summon the three strongest and most feared creatures in Duel Monsters, Kaiba. A foolish mistake."

But this was what Kaiba wanted Yami to do. "It's no mistake. My entire strategy was to bring out your Egyptian God cards so I can be the first duelist to crush all of them at once!"

Yami didn't believe him. "And just how do you intend to do that?"

"You're about to find out right now. Reveal trap card: Pyramid of Light!"

Yami's eyes widened. _So the Pyramid of Light is more than just an ancient artifact. It's also a card_. The card activated and blue lights came down like lasers forming a path. It was like a supersized form of the artifact materialized around the arena, trapping the duelists inside a blue void and sealing the Egyptian Gods outside. Obelisk touched the Pyramid and its light began weakening him and the divine Dragons. After that, the three Egyptian Gods were removed from the field and from the game.

But that was the least of Yami's problems. He sensed Yugi's soul was being attacked. Before he could even find out what it was, Yugi's soul was drawn into the Millennium Puzzle. Outside the Pyramid, Joey and Tristan's souls were being drawn from their bodies as well. Mokuba looked around and saw the Pyramid's magic destroying the entire duel dome. He had to escape from the control panel and get to safety. The systems were malfunctioning from the overload of power and he was losing control.

A blue light shone from the arena and made its way to the sky like a laser. "It's Kaiba's duel dome," Emily said, looking at the light in the distance. "That blue beam is the same color as the Pyramid of Light from the museum and I bet it's no coincidence. Whatever's going on in there, one thing's for sure: it can't be good." Tea and Solomon agreed and followed her to the duel dome.

Yami looked down at the Millennium Puzzle and called for Yugi. He growled at Kaiba and asked, "Kaiba, do you have any idea what you've just done?"

"Well, let's see, I think I've just beaten you," Kaiba answered and began cackling.


	6. Shadow Game

Shadow Game

Yugi regained consciousness and found himself in a labyrinth. "Hey, wait a second. This is where the pharaoh's spirit lives; inside the Millennium Puzzle. I've got to find him so we can reconnect." But he wasn't sure where to find his friend. There were so many doors and stairs and any one of them could be the door to Yami's room. He looked through every door, but as he looked inside, he found nothing but an empty room filled with darkness. "Hello? Pharaoh? Are you here?" Yugi kept asking as he looked through the doors. He looked inside another room and saw that it was no different from the others ones. It was dark and the only light that came in was the light over his shadow. "Pharaoh!" Yugi screamed. Joey and Tristan heard Yugi's voice and went to look for him.

In the dueling arena, Kaiba continued to torment his opponent. "It hurts, doesn't it, when you put your faith in the Gods and they let you down? If I were you, now's a good time to start praying for mercy, because from here on out, I'm planning to take you apart piece by painful piece. So let the torture continue with this, the torrential magic of Mystical Space Typhoon! Your face down card is destroyed. And if you like that, then you're going to love this, Peten the Dark Clown. But don't let his name fool you, he's no laughing matter." The Dark Clown had only 500 attack points, but he didn't look very harmless; especially when his Bloodlust Slash dealt damage to Yami's life points. To end his turn, Kaiba played a card face down.

"That attack," groaned Yami, "it drained me somehow, but I'm far from finished." He summoned Magician's Valkyria and attacked the Dark Clown, dealing 1100 points of damage to Kaiba's life points.

Kaiba felt like he was being attacked and his strength was fading from his body, but he quickly recovered. "Nice try, Yugi, but I knew you'd make that move, which is why my face down card is Deck Destruction Virus. You set off this crippling trap when you attacked my Dark Clown and now its viral tentacles will infect ten random cards from your deck and send them straight to the graveyard."

"Oh, no!"

"Oh, yes, Yugi. Now say goodbye to 25% of your dueling deck!" And the tentacles ensnared Yami's duel disk and destroyed ten cards. As if that wasn't bad enough, Peten's special ability allowed Kaiba to summon another Dark Clown to take his place. And since the Deck Destruction Virus was a continuous trap and could only activate when a weak dark attribute monster like Peten was destroyed, attacking the Dark Clown meant destroying Yami's deck.

Just because Kaiba activated his trap and played a new monster didn't mean he had officially taken his turn. "I summon Des Feral Imp. Also, I'll activate the magic of Card of Demise. It lets me draw five new cards, but if I don't use them in five turns, I lose them in five turns. Next, I'll sacrifice my Imp to activate White Dragon Ritual and summon Paladin of White Dragon!"

The Paladin's Ionic Spear Burst destroyed Valkyria and dealt 300 points of damage to Yami. He felt the same pain again as he lost life points _. It's as though when I lose my life points, I'm losing my actual life energy_ , he wondered as he was recovering from the attack.

The Paladin's special ability allowed Kaiba to send it back to his hand and summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon to take its place on the field. "Take a good look. It's the monster that's been the bane of your destruction ever since our first match and now he's back. But he's not alone. Any last requests?" Kaiba asked as he placed a card face down.

Yugi continued to hopelessly wander in the labyrinth. He was about to give up until he thought he saw the pharaoh walking ahead. Yugi followed and saw him go through a door he hadn't yet checked out. But something told him that this wasn't the door to the pharaoh's room. When he opened the door and looked inside, it looked like a tomb filled with caskets. He even saw the same sarcophagus from the museum resting on the arc. Yugi saw Yami walk up the steps to the arc. What turned out to be Yami was actually a stream of energy being drawn into the sarcophagus. Yugi heard sinister chuckling and someone chanting in Egyptian. He thought about waiting to find out who the voice belonged to until all the caskets opened up and mummies emerged from them. They saw Yugi and began approaching him. Frightened, Yugi ran from the room. He saw Joey and Tristan coming his way and told them to turn around and run. They didn't know what he was talking about until they saw the mummies coming.

Tea, Emily, and Solomon came to the duel dome and saw the damages all over the place. "Looks like an earthquake hit this place," said Tea. "And what in the world is that thing?"

"That's what I want to know," Mokuba said as he approached them.

Emily saw him and asked, "Mokuba, is Yugi inside that thing?"

"He's in there and so is my brother," he answered, looking at the Pyramid of Light. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Tea answered.

"Looks like that artifact we saw at the museum," Solomon suggests, "Only this one's supersized."

"But how is something like that possible?" Tea asks.

Emily answered with one simple word. "Anubis. Remember the legend? Anubis tried to destroy the world using the power of the Pyramid of Light."

"The Pyramid of Light?" repeated Mokuba. "Wait, rewind a sec. All of this insanity started when my brother played a card that was called the Pyramid of Light."

"Well, Yugi and Kaiba are inside something dangerous from five thousand years ago and if the legend is true, then Anubis has returned and is using the Pyramid of Light to finish what he started in the past," Emily tells him.

"This is crazy!" said Mokuba. "We've got to get them out of there." But that would be a difficult task. The Pyramid was filled with dark power and was getting stronger.

"I don't know what dark powers are at work here, but I can't let them go unchecked," Yami said, drawing his card. He played Premature Burial to resurrect Valkyria from the graveyard and he equipped her with the magic card Mage Power. He had to pay 800 life points, but now every time Yami would play a magic or trap card, Valkyria would gain 500 attack and defense points. She received a thousand points from the first cards he played and she received a thousand more as he played two more cards face down. Now Valkyria was the strongest monster on the field with 3600 attack points and 3800 defense points. Her Mystic Scepter Blast tried to destroy Blue-Eyes, but was redirected to the Dark Clown thanks to Kaiba's Attack Guidance Armor. And since his trap was still in play, Yami lost ten more cards from his deck. One of them was Dark Magician Girl and he heard her cry out in pain. Yami already lost more than half of the cards in his deck and soon he would lose them all.

Kaiba played his last Dark Clown and now his turn would officially begin. "I'm gonna summon up your worst nightmare. If you couldn't defeat one Blue-Eyes, there's no way you'll defeat three; especially when combined as Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. If you think he's scary now, just wait until he attacks. In fact, don't wait." The Ultimate Dragon's Neutron Blast attacked Valkyria and Yami lost 900 more life points. He still had 1500 life points remaining, but he was feeling weaker with every attack. "Look at the world's best duelist now," said Kaiba.


	7. The Legend Comes to Life

The Legend Comes to Life

Having ran enough, Yugi, Joey, and Tristan stopped to catch their breath and to catch on about what was going on. They looked up and saw the same eye on the Pyramid of Light, showing them what was going on. "We've been drawn into the Millennium Puzzle and that thing is somehow responsible for it," Yugi explained to his friends.

"Then what in the world is that down there?" Joey asked. Yugi and Tristan followed his gaze and saw the Pyramid of Light destroying the Millennium Puzzle. This was not normal, but Yugi and his friends were used to seeing things that weren't normal.

"So any idea what we're up against?" Tristan asked.

"Maybe," Yugi replied. "I think this has something to do with an ancient Egyptian sorcerer."

"I knew it was going to be something insane," Joey groaned.

"He's called Anubis, the Egyptian Lord of the dead."

"Lord of the dead," Joey repeated in question.

Yugi nods. "Centuries ago, he tried to destroy the world and I'm starting to believe he's here to make a comeback."

"What?" Joey and Tristan ask in unison. Yugi looks up and refocuses his attention on the duel as he recalls the legend he heard in the museum. Tristan saw the same thing and said, "Doesn't look like the duel's going too well for your friend the pharaoh."

Yugi agrees. "We've got to do something to help him and right now, all I can think about is heading back to Anubis' tomb." Joey didn't like the sound of that. It meant going back to the mummies, but he remembered that the three of them could escape them.

Based on how Kaiba was seeing Yami, he could tell that he was in pain, but didn't know how much pain he was in. "Does it hurt, Yugi? Because it only gets worse from here."

Yami pulled himself together. He had to try to get Kaiba to stop fighting on. The pain was real and if he could feel it, then Kaiba could too. "Kaiba, we can't continue this duel. There's another power at work here and it's destroying us both."

"That's getting a bit old," the brunette moaned.

But Yami was serious. "The Pyramid of Light has created a deadly Shadow Game. I know you sense it. We must stop now."

"The only thing I sense is your fear, not that I blame you. But I came here to win and stopping's not an option!" Kaiba raises his voice and continues, "For all the times you humiliated me in a duel when clearly I should have been champion! For all the times I had to listen to you preach about the Heart of the Cards! You're going down, Yugi, and my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is going to put you there!"

Yami had enough. He saw that the only way to end the duel was to defeat Kaiba. Since the brunette wouldn't do it, he had to do it himself. He raises his voice and shouts, "Kaiba, once again, your ridiculously overinflated ego blinds you to the truth! I am far from beaten!" He activated his two face down cards. Once was Monster Reborn, which he used to revive Dark Magician Girl. The second card was Sage's Stone and when played with Dark Magician Girl, Yami could automatically summon Dark Magician.

"Big deal," Kaiba scoffed.

Yami grinned. "Oh, it's a very big deal." Kaiba stopped smiling when he heard his rival say that. "Now I sacrifice both Magicians to summon the Sorcerer of Dark Magic." And a mage in black armor appeared on the field with 3200 attack points and 2800 defense points. "And with his rise to power comes your Blue-Eyes fall from grace. Because for every one of my Sorcerer's fallen comrades in the graveyard, your Dragon loses 500 attack points. And right now, there have been three Magicians laid down to rest, so your precious Ultimate Dragon's attack points decrease by 1500."

"But that means my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is vulnerable to attack," Kaiba gasps as his monster's attack points drop from 4500 to 3000.

"That's exactly what it means. Attack with Celestial Blast!" Sacred fire emerged from the Sorcerer's scepter and the Ultimate Dragon was engulfed in its flames. Kaiba felt weak again as he lost 200 life points. Yami saw him in pain and pleaded, "Now will you stop this madness?"

"After one lucky move? I don't think so." But Kaiba saw that there was nothing he could do when he looked at his card in disappointment.

Yami was also disappointed. "Very well, Kaiba, you leave me no choice. I move to attack Peten the Dark Clown."

Kaiba knew that if he did, he would have no monsters left on the field to protect his life points. But that wouldn't matter. The Sorcerer's Celestial Blast would activate the trap that was still in play. "You may have destroyed my Clown, but you forgot all about my Deck Virus trap card and at a time when you couldn't afford to. Your deck's about to be wiped out."

But the Sorcerer stepped in front of Yami to protect him and he twirled his scepter, creating a shield. "Sorry, Kaiba, but my Sorcerer of Dark Magic's mystic powers are so mighty; he can stop the activation of trap cards like your Deck Virus and destroy them. My deck is safe."

"But your life points aren't," the brunette said, drawing his card. He looked at it and chuckled. It was the card he was waiting to play. "I activate Monster Reborn. Next, I'll sacrifice my reborn Ultimate Dragon. You see, I have an even more powerful monster, complements of Pegasus. A shining new Dragon; the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!" And the Ultimate Dragon's outer shell cracked and from within emerged an advanced White Dragon. "And for every Dragon in my graveyard, the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon gains 300 attack points. That's an extra 1500 attack points right off the bat for a punishing grand total of 4500 points."

"But don't forget, due to my Sorcerer's power, your new Dragon's attack points decrease by 1500." But the Shining Dragon's Shining Diffusion canceled out the Sorcerer's effect. "What? Your points didn't decrease!"

"That's because my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon allows me to choose whichever magic, trap, or monster effect can be used against him," explained Kaiba. "Just face it, Yugi, your days as a champion duelist are over. My Shining Dragon's gonna blast you back to the minor leagues where you belong!" And the Dragon's Shining Neutron Blast destroyed the Sorcerer of Dark Magic, leaving Yami barely alive with a sparse 200 life points. "How do you like it? The pain, the sting of defeat? I felt it for too long. Now it's your turn," Kaiba said as Yami fell to the floor.

Yugi, Joey, and Tristan kept running in the labyrinth trying to find their way back to Anubis' tomb. Because Yugi shared such a strong connection to Yami, he found himself feeling weak and in pain. Tristan looked down and saw a stream of blue light. Yugi recognized that it was the pharaoh's life energy. That gave him the idea that if he and his friends followed it, it would lead them back to the tomb. The guys agreed that they had nothing to lose, so they carried Yugi and followed the stream.

Looking hard, Tea, Emily, Solomon, and Mokuba saw Yami lying on the ground and weak from the duel. As he was becoming weaker, the Pyramid of Light was getting stronger and destroying everything around it. The duel dome started to crumble again as the ceiling was coming apart and the ground was quaking.

"Up here!" cried a voice. Everyone looked up and saw Pegasus standing out of a helicopter and holding a rope ladder. "I'd hurry up!"

Everyone quickly climbed the ladder and was lifted from the ground. Mokuba stepped inside the chopper first and asked, "Pegasus, what are you doing here?"

"How about we start with a 'thank you', you little ingrate," Pegasus remarked. "If I hadn't figured out what this whole Pyramid of Light thing was about, you'd all be crushed." When everyone safely enters, he explains, "You see, Kaiba thinks he got that card from me when in fact, this has all been arranged by an evil lord who tried to take over the world five millennia ago and is now back to finish the job." The only way for Pegasus to know what was going on since he didn't have the Millennium Eye anymore was by simply doing research. "Now this Anubis has created the ultimate Shadow Game and is getting stronger every moment."

"Then the prophecy is being fulfilled," said Solomon.

"And Yugi and Kaiba are right in the middle of it," Tea added.

"We've just got to find a way to help them," Emily finished.

Finally, Yugi, Joey and Tristan found their way back to the tomb and saw the trail of energy making its way to Anubis' sarcophagus. He sensed their presence and spoke to them. "Foolish mortals. There is nothing you can do to stop my rebirth. I have infiltrated the realm of the pharaoh and his life force now feeds mine."

"We won't stand here while you suck the life out of others to save yourself," Yugi debated. "We're going to take you down, Anubis."

"I'd stay in that casket if I were you," said Joey.

"Because in case you haven't noticed, we've got you outnumbered." But after Tristan said that, the mummies from the other caskets began approaching the trio again.

"What do you want anyway?" Yugi demanded.

"Behold the future, since you won't live to see it for yourselves," Anubis said and began showing them a vision of the many monsters attacking cities and people. "Soon my beasts of destruction shall annihilate all traces of life on Earth and I will finally complete that which I started millennia ago." Then he started showing everyone a vision of the past from when Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle. "It is by your very hand that this devastation will occur, mortal, for when you released the pharaoh, you released me as well."

"What's he mean?" Tristan asked Yugi.

"This is between me and him," Yugi answered, finding himself feeling stronger. "Listen, you guys need to find a way out of this place. I'm going to stay here and figure this out."

"Figure what out?" Joey asked.

"There was this prophecy my grandfather read to me in the museum and it may have something to do with this. I just don't know what."

"Yuge, that's crazy talk," said Joey.

"Just go, guys."

Joey refused. "Listen, there's no way we're leaving you. We're a team. We've been through everything together and there's no chance we're turning out backs on you now, pal." Tristan agreed.

Yugi looked down. "But the last thing I want to do is put my best friends in danger."

Sensing Yugi's presence with the Millennium Star, Emily cries out to him and stands on the edge. Tea joins her and holds her hand.

"Tea, Emily, get down from there," Solomon tells them.

"Our friends need us," said Tea. "We just know it." The girls look down at the Pyramid's eye and begin to feel numb.

"Foolish girls," said Pegasus. Solomon tells them once again to come back inside, but the girls begin to lean down. Before they can fall, the others grab them. Their bodies are pulled back inside, but their souls are drawn in by the eye.

"We're coming, guys!" the girls cried out.

Yugi saw them and was surprised. "Tea, Emily, how did you find us?"

"Are you kidding?" Tea asked. She and Emily hold up their hands. "Remember the friendship symbol we drew?"

The boys did remember. The ink faded from their hands, but the mark remained etched in their hearts. "We're all with you," Emily promised, "and we'll always be with you." And the symbol began shining on their hands.

"Thanks, guys. Friends to the end," Yugi said, and everyone placed their hands together.

"You see," asked Tea. "There's nothing out there more powerful than our friendship."

Yugi agreed. "I can feel it. All we need to do is stick together."

"Sticking together is what we do best," said Joey.

"We'll never leave your side." But when Emily said that, Anubis used his magic to pull her and Tea away from the boys.

"Your pathetic little bond is nothing against my power," he growled. "Soon my body will be fully restored and your world shrouded in darkness. Yet you fools prattle on about togetherness? Then so be it," Anubis said and released the girls. They became physical again and were falling down to the mummies. Before they touched the ground, they used their acrobatic skills to fight the mummies off. Joey and Tristan joined in, but every time they tried to fight, the mummies kept trying to attack and wouldn't stay down.


	8. The Final Hour Approaches

The Final Hour Approaches

Yami was still in pain, but he tried to gather his strength and get back on his feet. "How the mighty have fallen," Kaiba said as he was watching him struggle. "Lying there on the ground like a dog waiting to be put out of its misery. Get up! Get up so I can knock you back down!"

Yami finally did get up, but could barely stand. He needed to reason with Kaiba and stop the duel. "Something's not right here, Kaiba, and you know it."

Kaiba scoffed. "Spare me the mystic mumbo jumbo. You just can't stand that your reputation's at stake."

"You have no idea what's at stake," Yami says and draws his card. "But believe me, I cannot let you win this duel." He summoned Big Shield Gardna in defense mode.

"You know, I think you're the one who doesn't have a clue what this match is really about," Kaiba argued. "It's about payback. And this card will see to that," he says, playing it face down. "But first, let's deal with your so-called Big Shield Gardna. Do you think it's big enough to block the power of my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon?" And the Dragon's Shining Neutron Blast destroyed the defending monster.

"I told you when we started this duel that this time, things were going to be different, Yugi. You may have beaten me in the past, but now there's nothing you can do to stop me from having my revenge. You're finished!"

"Not yet, I'm not," Yami argued. He drew Pot of Greed and used it to draw two new cards. One of them was a fluffy pink creature called Watapon. Its special ability allowed Yami to special summon it since it was added to his hand by the effect of a magic card. Because Watapon was special summoned, Yami was permitted to normal summon a monster. The one he chose was Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and it couldn't be destroyed by any monster with more than 1900 attack points.

"So let me see if I've got this right now. You're playing a cream puff and an elf," Kaiba smartly stated. "Well then, it's your funeral!" Since five turns passed since Kaiba played Card of Demise, he had to discard his Paladin of White Dragon. And since it was a Dragon, the Shining Dragon gained 300 more attack points and now had 4800 attack points.

"Kaiba, you must listen to me," Yami pleaded.

"All I want to hear from you is your anguished cry of defeat!"

"Kaiba, for the last time, I'm begging you to stop this! People are getting hurt, lives are in danger, and this Pyramid of Light you've created is the source of it all. There's a dark power in our midst and you can't deny it. With every life point lost, we both become weaker. I know you can feel it. We must stop before it's too late!"

A voice echoed in the back of Kaiba's mind. _Ridiculous. I can attack Yugi now with my Shining Dragon and destroy the rest of his life points._

 _No,_ Kaiba argued. _I should stick to my original strategy and defeat Yugi with his own Egyptian God cards._ He spoke and told Yami, "I'm afraid that for you, it's already too late, Yugi."

Yami wouldn't give up. "No, Kaiba, please, you mustn't do this. We still have time to end this madness. All we need to do is end this duel."

"You know, Yugi, you're absolutely right. Stopping the duel is exactly what I'm going to do. Now, Blue-Eyes, activate your final special ability!"

"No!" Yami cried. "You're playing with forces you can't possibly understand!"

 _Finish him_ , the voice echoed. _Finish him now!_

 _No_ , Kaiba protested. _I wanted a perfect victory. And with this card, I can use Yugi's own most powerful monsters against him_ , he wondered, putting his eyes on his face down card. "I use Shining Nova! It puts the rage of a thousand Blue-Eyes into a blast so strong, it destroys itself, plus anything I choose! And the card that will feel the wrath of my Dragon is the Pyramid of Light!"

 _No, I need the Pyramid to destroy the pharaoh!_ The voice cried.

 _What am I saying? I must destroy it in order to gain control of Yugi's God cards!_ "Your reign as the King of Games is over! That title will be mine as will all three of your Egyptian God cards! Now, Blue-Eyes, sacrifice yourself and destroy the Pyramid of Light!" The Shining Dragon self-destructed and shot a laser of light down at the card, but it remained on the field.

The voice in Kaiba's head laughed and said out loud, "This I cannot allow."

"What? The Pyramid of Light wasn't destroyed?" Yami asked in confusion as the Shining Dragon disappeared from the field. Even Kaiba was confused.

"The Pyramid of Light endures because I will it. So great is my power."

"Hey, what is this?" Kaiba demanded, looking around. "Show yourself, whoever you are!"

"I have been here the whole time, mortal, whispering in your ear."

"The whole time?" Kaiba echoed. "No, this is some sort of trick."

Yami looked and saw something appearing behind his rival. "Kaiba, look out!" he warned. Kaiba turned around and gasped as he saw a strange being standing behind him. "Kaiba, no!"

The mysterious being lifted Kaiba by his head and told him, "You have served me well, little worm, but you have outlived your usefulness," and threw him aside. Kaiba groaned and lost consciousness as he slid across the floor.

"Kaiba," Yami gasped. He put his eyes on this newcomer and finally recognized him as his transformation was complete. "So it's been you behind this whole duel manipulating Kaiba all along. The Egyptian Lord of the dead: Anubis."

"I am pleased that you remember me after all these years, my pharaoh. It will make my ultimate vengeance all the sweeter," Anubis says and finally faces his opponent. "You will fall and my reign of destruction shall begin."

"We'll see."

"The souls of your mortal friends have already fallen, trapped within your Puzzle."

"My friends," Yami gasped, placing his hand over his Puzzle.

"Lost in a labyrinth of the dead," continued Anubis.

Yami shuddered and said, "You're wrong, I can still sense their presence and I will fight to defend them. No matter what happens, I will not let your evil plan come to pass, Anubis."

"All I need do is defeat you in this duel and the prophecy will be fulfilled. You will be destroyed. The magic of the Shadow Games that you locked away centuries ago will once again be unleashed into this world and I shall finally take my rightful place as the pharaoh of this realm. With the Pyramid of Light at my command, there is nothing you can do to stop me. The ultimate Shadow Game is just beginning." Darkness began to surround the arena and Anubis used his magic to conjure up two of his loyal servants. They were monsters named Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia. Yami gritted his teeth as he saw the two beasts growling at him. He drew his card. It was a trap called Reverse of Reverse. He played it face down and ended his turn.

"Search your deck from now until doomsday and you still won't find anything to stand against my savage Shadow Realm beasts," said Anubis. "No, Pharaoh. I'm afraid that for you doomsday is today." He lifts his hand and plays a card face down. "Now watch as your last line of defense is ripped to shreds before your eyes!" Sphinx Teleia screeched at Watapon and pounced on the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. Andro Sphinx roared at Watapon and removed the fluffy monster from the field. "Each time Andro Sphinx destroys a monster, half of that monster's attack points are taken from my opponent's life points. You have only one hundred points left. Your fate is sealed, Pharaoh. Soon you will be the relic buried away. Soon worms will feast on your flesh just as they did on mine."

"Your worms will have to wait, Anubis. I trust my fate to the Heart of the Cards." Yami drew his last card from his deck. All he had left were two magic cards.

Inside the tomb, Yugi and his friends continued to fight off the mummies, but they were all becoming exhausted. Yugi looked up and saw an eye made from red crystal. It looked like the one on the Pyramid of Light and seemed to be what was drawing in all the energy. Then Yugi remembered the prophecy. The eye that sees what's yet to come, its vision shall be fulfilled. Unless blinded by events predetermined. In simpler terms, fate. Yugi had a feeling he had solved the mystery of the prophecy and needed to find the Dagger of Fate. He looked through the bandages inside the sarcophagus and found the blade. "Let's just hope that fate is on our side," Yugi prayed and tossed the Dagger of Fate. He tried to pierce the eye, but the tail of the Dagger only seemed to chip the carving instead of the crystal. As if it was really an eye and took in some damage, Yugi's effort was not in vain after all.

Yami started sensing a weakness in the Pyramid of Light. No denying Yugi and the others were part of this. He knew what he needed to do now. "I activate Double Spell. By discarding one card from my hand, I can select a new one from my opponent's graveyard and use it as my own." He gave up Diffusion Wave-Motion in exchange for Kaiba's Monster Reborn and used it to revive the Shining Dragon. "And I have a hunch this time. Your Pyramid of Light won't be able to stand up to it. Go, Shining Nova! Use all your power to finish what you started before and destroy the Pyramid of Light!" And he was right. The Shining Dragon sacrificed herself and successfully destroyed the card; which also destroyed Anubis' beasts and freed everyone's souls. "And with that, I'll end my turn now that the Pyramid of Light is gone."

Anubis growled. "Your opponent tried and failed to destroy the Pyramid of Light with that Dragon. You alone couldn't make such a difference."

"You're quite right that I could not have done it all alone," Yami said in agreement.

"You may have destroyed the card, Pharaoh, but not the Pyramid of Light around my neck! Behold its power!" He revealed his hidden card and summoned Thenien the Great Sphinx. He also used the Pyramid of Light to feed his new beast with the souls of the dead and raise its attack points to 35000. "Five thousand years ago, I never had the chance to summon Thenien to our battle. So I think it'd be best if we made up for last time and finally had a proper introduction. Thenien, meet the pharaoh. And, Pharaoh, meet your doom."

"We don't have anything that can beat that Sphinx," Yugi said worriedly.

"Yes, we do, Yugi. If I'm correct about what Kaiba was planning." Yami raises his voice and says, "Now then, Anubis, this is still a duel and I still have one card left to play: Reverse of Reverse, which lets me use the last card played by Kaiba!" The card he had face down was Return From the Different Dimension. "When Kaiba spoke of dealing me the perfect defeat, he meant wiping me out with my very own Egyptian God cards. Allow me to introduce Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

Anubis stepped back in fear. His power had weakened and he no longer had the Pyramid of Light to protect him. The Egyptian Gods pooled their energy together and their power was raised to infinity. Their Titan Firestorm destroyed the Great Sphinx and their holy flames engulfed Anubis. The Lord of the dead was gone and the Pyramid of Light was destroyed, leaving behind its red pearl.

"You did it," Yugi cheered.

"We did it," Yami corrected as he heard their friends cheering from the sidelines.


	9. Last Resort

Last Resort

The duel was over, but Yugi couldn't forget Kaiba. He was still out of it from his attack. "Kaiba, are you all right?" Yugi asked as he approached him. The brunette groaned and tried getting up from the floor. "Let me help you," he said and held out his hand.

"I can take care of myself," Kaiba groaned. He tried to push Yugi's hand away, but his arm was injured. Emily saw that Kaiba was in pain and went down to help him. Before she could perform one of her healing spells, she and Yugi and Kaiba heard faint laughing. It turned out that Anubis was not as gone as everyone thought.

"Shadows take life, creatures be born, now let's see how well you play this game when the monsters are real!"

"Monsters?" Joey asked.

"For real?" Tristan repeated in question.

Dark magic emerged from the red pearl and was taking on the shape on a large canine beast. "It is no longer time to duel. Now it is time to die!" Anubis roared and began attacking the duel dome. "Nothing in your decks of cards can save you now." He used the magic of Fallout and Inferno Tempest to destroy Yugi's deck and Kaiba's. "It appears you are one card short, Pharaoh," Anubis said as he saw their cards scattering.

"Yeah, but I'm not," Joey said and activated his duel disk. He summoned Gilford the Lightning and Gearfried the Iron Knight. The two warriors tried to attack, but they were destroyed as they were engulfed in Anubis' dark magic.

"You have no concept of my powers and now the end begins!" Anubis roared. He launched his magic from his back like cannons and the entire dome was beginning to crumble. Pegasus knew that if they didn't escape, they would be crushed by the rubble.

Before leaving, Joey cries out, "Yugi, I know you'll take this creep down!"

"That's right, because we'll be with you all the way!" Tea tells him. And they all reach out their hands as a gesture of their bond.

Emily stayed with Yugi and Kaiba. She was the only one who possessed more magic. She knew now that she had to break the promise she made to her mother and use the Millennium Star. Anubis was down to his last resort. She had to use hers in order to save the world. "Forgive me, Mother. I know I promised I wouldn't do this, but I have no choice," she says and releases the Millennium Star.

Sensing its light, Anubis turns his attention to Emily. "That Star, those eyes, you look just like her. Can you be?"

Emily opens her eyes and begins transforming. Her school uniform turned into her princess dress. "I am the princess who wields the Millennium Star; the daughter of the great pharaoh and Queen Mystery. And just as they defeated you once before, I will remove you once and for all." _I understand now_ , she wonders. _Anubis and the Pyramid of Light must be destroyed. I hope I'm strong enough to stand against him. If not, please give me the strength I need to fight._ She raises her hands and releases the Star's light, attacking Anubis and protecting her friends. Anubis counter attacks with his magic as he continues to destroy everything.

"We have to help Emily," Yugi was saying. "But how can we beat a real monster?"

Kaiba looked and saw the card that had the power to do it. "With a real monster. Yugi!" Using his injured arm, he tosses the card to Yugi. "It's the one card that can help Briar beat him."

"It's time to get real with the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!" Yugi cries and raises the card in the air to summon the Dragon. Yami places his fingertips on the card to help and give his strength. "If the monsters are real, then so are all of their powers; including this Dragon's ability to destroy anything!"

Emily and Anubis saw the Shining Dragon come into battle. The Dragon was ordered to destroy Anubis, but the princess didn't want to be caught in the Shining Nova. She joined her friends on the arena and watched as Anubis was being destroyed by the light. It made sense to her. The Pyramid of Light was filled with the clashing powers of light and shadows, but it was overpowered by darkness. That was why the light magic was destroying the beast along with the Pyramid. The jackal melted in the light and the Lord of the dead departed saying one last phrase in the old language. After that, the red pearl was destroyed.

Emily flew up to the Shining Dragon. "You have my gratitude, my friend. It was because of you that we were finally able to defeat Anubis. Thank you for your help, Shining Dragon," she says, petting her. The Dragon screeches and flies up to the sky, brightening it as her sacrifice is complete. Her light drives the clouds away and makes the stars visible.


	10. True Victory

True Victory

The Dragon was gone and the battle was over, but Millennia's light continued to fill the entire arena; especially when Yugi and Emily's friends returned. The light that was being released from the Star felt comforting like all of the bad things were fading away.

Everyone except for Mokuba surrounded Emily. "Wow, Emily, you look so radiant," said Tristan.

"What a pretty dress you're wearing," said Joey.

"So this is your true form," said Tea.

"You look just like a princess," Solomon tells her.

"That's because she _is_ a princess," said Pegasus. "The princess who holds the Millennium Star, I might add." He couldn't believe that Emily was the one he had been looking for all along. But it didn't matter to him now. He was just excited that he was finally seeing her like this and the Star for the first time. "Princess Emily, you're more beautiful than I imagined. I'm sorry for all I said earlier and for the trouble I put you and your friends through."

Not that Emily wasn't paying attention to what everyone around her was saying. She heard them, but couldn't give them a response because she was speaking to the queen. "Mother," she was saying. "I didn't think I could do it."

"You shouldn't have," the queen scolded. "It was dangerous." But her anger quickly turns into satisfaction as she smiles and says, "But I'm glad you did it."

"You are?"

"You hold the Millennium Star. It's only right and fair that you should be able to use it. But you still don't know the limits of your own strength."

"That's why I did the same thing that you did and stopped," said Emily. "And it was because of the Shining Dragon that I didn't have to sacrifice myself."

"And I am just as grateful to her for that," said Mystery. "But Emily, I fear that there may come a time when you may have to use the Millennium Star again. But I know you will use it well."

Emily nods. "And just wait, one day, I will make you proud, Mother."

"I know you will," Mystery tells her. After that, Emily transforms back to her normal state and approaches Kaiba so she can heal him. Mokuba had already bandaged his arm, but she still used her magic. Kaiba didn't understand this strange feeling coming over him. He first felt it when he was exposed to Millennia's light, now he was feeling Emily's magic for the first time as she was healing his arm. Whatever this feeling was, he liked it.

Tea faces the sky with concern. "He's not coming back again, right?"

"We should take a closer look at the prophecy to see what it foretells for the future," Yugi's grandfather suggested.

Pegasus scoffed. "Oh, please, old man. Anubis is gone. No one could possible return after a defeat so thoroughly devastating as that. Well, no one but Kaiba, that is." The brunette growled as he heard that. "I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?"

"Kaiba," Yugi was saying as Emily finished healing his arm.

"Oh, please, spare me all your bull about friendship, will you?" Kaiba asked as he approached them. "If it wasn't for that freak crashing the party, we both know that the winner of today's duel would have been me." He slightly grinned and said directly to Yugi, "So enjoy your last days of being champion while you still can."

Yugi showed a more pleasant smile and said, "I've got to say, it's nice to have the old Kaiba back."

"Yeah, well, this conversation's over. We'll duel again," Kaiba said and went on his way. Mokuba followed him.

Solomon was just glad that Kaiba didn't mention the damage that was done to his duel dome because he had a feeling his insurance wouldn't cover it. Yugi remembered that Kaiba had plenty of money. And though he didn't have a Millennium Item, Millennia's light did still shine inside of him. And unless he changes his ways, Kaiba won't find friends like the ones Yugi has.

"What Kaiba doesn't get is that victory means nothing unless you can share it with the people you love, because then, you're really a winner." All of Yugi's friends smiled at him for saying that.

"You can say that again," said Yami.


End file.
